Evanescence
by Jade Wylkyns
Summary: A mysterious girl, three new kids, and a missing boy. What is really happening? Monsters are trying to evanescence the Olympian gods and all hopes seem to be lost. Or are they?
1. Chapter 1

Yo. This is Jade Wylkyns with my first FanFiction for Heroes of Olympus. I've been pretty busy and all but I somehow managed to write a chapter. I apologize for its shortness but I thought it would be right place to cut. Besides, I didn't have much time to write more anyways.

To Solovete Iverson: You also know me as K.C. (keep it a secret) and I finally started a Percy Jackson/Heroes of Olympus FanFiction. I hope you enjoy it.

Back to you guys. I intend to follow the general plot of the original book but I will twist the plots in various places. For one, I added an original character but the main three (Jason, Leo, and Piper) will get just as much, if not more, spotlight as the original character.

To those who don't know, evanescence means to disappear gradually. This is suppose to symbolize the monsters trying to evanescence the Olympian gods and goddesses.

Enjoy.

* * *

A young girl stood in the midst of pouring rain, her dark blond hair sticking to her shoulders. Her plain black T-shirt wrinkled against her petite body and her matching black skinny jeans were soaked against her thin legs like a second skin. The girl couldn't be any more than six years old yet older and wiser look haunted her chilly blue-gray eyes and subtle sadness graced the corner of her mouth. Her cheeks, red from the relentless beating of the rain and wind, were devoid of the baby fat that a child her age should have and her stance had the wariness of a soldier.

The girl in question was Julia. Well, at least that's the only thing she remembered about herself. All she knew was that she appeared out of nowhere with no memory and no identity save for her name. For some strange reason, she felt the tingling in the air as though some malignant force was approaching her. In the midst of darkness, the only colors that could be seen were the glinting ruby ring that encircled her fourth finger of her left hand and her blue-gray eyes that darted around, piercing through the dark stormy night out in the deserted alley.

Suddenly, Julia spun on her heels and brushed her index finger of her right hand against the ruby, drawing out a short but wicked looking dagger out of nowhere. The blade was stark black and seemed to melt into the darkness that surrounded it. Just as myriads of grotesque looking shapes started appearing out of seemingly random places, Julia started hacking away the monsters as though she had been trained to fight her entire life. Each and every one of her movements was precise and her feet moved gracefully as though she was dancing instead of slaughtering away heinous-looking creatures.

As she progressed through the swarming mass of monsters, her dagger started pulsating the familiar feeling of power through her body, rejuvenating her tired and sore muscles. The dagger gave her the strength and she pressed on hard, dealing death to any monsters that were stupid enough to cross her path.

Just as soon as she finished her mini-massacre, she checked the vicinity and after determining that she was safe at the moment, she put away her dagger in the similar fashion she drew it.

'_Who are those creatures? Why are they attacking me anyways? I haven't done anything wrong since I ran away from that despicable orphanage.'_ Julia frowned as she wondered in her head. _'What are those anyways? I never heard of them nor have I seen them. They surely don't look human.'_

Julia started to walk down the once again deserted alley and took shelter under the roof of an abandoned shop. She closed her eyes to catch some sleep but her arms were still tense and her right hand was ready to draw out her dagger at the first notice of danger.

XXX

Chiron didn't know what to think. For some unexplainable reason, an unreasonable amount of monsters were suddenly attracted a piece of land that he knew were deserted and only visited occasionally by hoodlums seeking privacy to do drugs without being mugged.

"Chiron, I believe you have summoned me here?" A clear voice rang out from the partially open doorway to Chiron's private study.

"Yes, I have. Will Solace, I have a small mission for you. I wish for you to check out a certain area and try to figure out something for me. I have found that a great unexplainable number of monsters are being drawn to a desolate area and I have a suspicion that we might have a demigod there. If my suspicion is proven correct, I want you to bring him or her to the camp. Here is the scroll in which the map is drawn on. The location I wish you to scout is circled in red. You may leave as soon as you're ready. Do you have any questions?" Chiron raised his eyebrow at the tall boy standing before him.

"No, sir. I will do just as you asked." With that, Will bowed slightly and walked out of his study, the ebony door closing behind him with a soft thump.

XXX

Will Solace didn't know what he expected to find but it was certainly not this. He was standing in the middle of a deserted alley, the soft pitter patter of rain from the aftermath of a storm against his dark umbrella. He stepped off from the ornate chariot that he used to get to the alley and started mindlessly stroking the horse that pulled the chariot. There was not a single sign of life around him and he was starting to wonder if he came to the correct place when a small blond girl stepped into his view with a wicked looking dagger in her right hand, ready to defend herself. Her cold blue-gray eyes were trained on him and gave him unexplainable feelings that sent shivers down his spine.

"H-hi, my name is Will Solace. Are you the one that had been attracting the assortment of monsters past week?" Will spoke with forced cheerfulness as he eyed the girl warily. Despite her slight frame, he had no doubt that she was absolutely proficient at using the dagger she held, if not expert at it.

"What are you doing here, Will Solace? Why do you wish to know whether or not it was I that had been attracting the monsters?" The girl spoke with dignity that reminded Will of the ancient queens that he read about back in the Camp Half-Blood when he was studying Greek history.

"I'm supposed to find the person that had been attracting the monsters and bring him or her to safety. It is dangerous for demigods to be alone out in the world because they tend to attract huge amount of monsters. The camp that I'm supposed to take the person to is a place where the demigods can be safe. I'm the son of Apollo and I've lived there since I was ten. This is my ninth year there, with age eighteen." Will found himself babbling about unnecessary things to the girl. The chilly gaze of the young girl unnerved him for unknown reasons – he felt as though he was standing before the goddess of judgment herself.

"I see. I welcome you, son of Apollo. Since you have given me your name and age, I shall give you mine in return. My name is Julia and I am six years old. I believe I am the one who you are looking for. I give you my permission to escort me to the place you wish to take me." To Will's great astonishment, Julia managed to speak with dignity of a royal family while not having a single trace of hauteur.

"Well… Since you're like soaked and all, you should like change or something. I brought extra pair of clothes in the bag over there. Even though it's pretty small, it'll probably be big on you 'cause it's like for ten-year-old or something." Once again, Will found himself babbling, trying to fill up the vacancy made by the ever silent girl. "There's a blanket there too so you can dry yourself off and use it to hide yourself when you're changing."

"I thank you for this extra preparation." Julia spoke solemnly and started to change into the clothes. The shirt was a bit too baggy on her and the jeans were like seven inches too long but she folded the bottom of the jeans and went back to her stoic pose.

Julia and Will rode in silence on the rest of their way back to the Camp Half-Blood. Will kept himself focused on his path but his eyes kept straying off to the rigid form of Julia next to him. She stared ahead with a stoic face that should have looked out of place on a six-year-old girl's face but strangely didn't. Will didn't understand how she looked so calm after being told that he was son of a Greek god and she herself is a demigod.

The two arrived at the camp just as the campfire started. Will thought of taking the girl's hand but thought against it, his better judgment taking over. Everything about the mysterious girl screamed 'Royalty' and 'Powerful'.

"This is the place. It's called Camp Half-Blood and you'll find bunch of people like us here – you know, kids who are half mortal and half immortal." Will gave the ever stoic girl a slight smile. "Let's go meet the camp director."

"I shall join you, son of Apollo." Even with her baggy shirt that was soaked through and her skinny jeans, Julia managed to get off the chariot as though she was wearing a dress.

Julia and Will walked toward the noisy campfire where myriads of kids chatted amicably in groups. Will wove his way through the crowd, Julia following close by him. They stopped before a half man, half horse to whom the former bowed to.

"This is our camp director…" Will started, only to be cut off by the girl.

"You are Chiron, the centaur. I am Julia and it is a great honor to meet you." Julia spoke with formality and she bowed slightly.

"I see you already know who I am." Chiron frowned slightly as he stared at Julia as though she was a puzzle that he couldn't quite figure out. "Well, I hope you had a pleasant trip with Will Solace here."

"Yes, it was a very agreeable journey indeed. The son of Apollo had been quite hospitable." Then Julia turned to face Will who was starting to look rather awkward standing next to the conversing two. "I thank you for escorting me here, son of Apollo."

"You're welcome but why do you keep calling me son of Apollo?" Will asked.

"Well, you are son of Apollo, are you not?" Will nodded to this bit unsurely. "Therefore I shall continue to call you son of Apollo." Julia said with finality.

"Uh… Sure." Will was starting to feel really awkward now, having never talked to someone who spoke quite so formally. "May I go join my friends, Chiron?" he asked the centaur that was watching the small exchange with inscrutable expression.

"You may." Chiron told him and with that, Will quickly disappeared through the swarming mass of kids of every age that were chattering loudly. "Julia, I think it will be best if you are introduced to the rest of the kids. Otherwise, the kids might get suspicious."

"I understand. What will you have me do, centaur?" Julia deadpanned squarely in the eyes.

"Let's go up to the center of this campfire. I will settle down the kids there and introduce you then." Chiron explained and Julia nodded understandingly.

The two walked up to the center of the fireplace where purplish red flames were licking the air, rising higher and higher as the mood of the people elevated. When they reached the very center, Chiron stomped his hooves to gain the attention of the campers. They looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to start talking.

"Campers, we have a new camper join us. Her name is Julia and –" Chiron trailed off and looked at Julia questioningly. "Do you wish to introduce yourself?" He asked softly.

"I shall do so if that is what you wish." With that, Julia took over the stage. "My name is Julia and I am very pleased to be among you demigods." She spoke with clear voice.

"Where are you from and how old are you?" A blond girl near the front asked. "Who's your godly parent?"

"I am six years old and I do not know where I am from. As to which of my parents is among the gods and goddess, I am afraid it is yet to be found out." Her voice rang with power despite her slight frame. "You are a daughter of Minerva, are you not?" A slight frown graced her eyes as she scrutinized the girl before her.

"In here, we call my mother Athena, not Minerva. Did you grow up with Roman gods and goddesses or something?" The blond girl narrowed her eyes. "Well, my name is Annabeth and it's nice to meet you."

"I do not have any memory until two months ago, I'm afraid. However, the Roman names seem to roll of my tongue much more nicely than the Greek names. I am honored to meet the daughter of Minerva, Annabeth." The stormy gray eyes of Annabeth met the icy blue-gray eyes of Julia.

"Are you the clue?" Annabeth asked.

"What do you mean, daughter of Minerva? I do not understand what you are talking about." The shorter blond girl stared at the taller blond.

"One of my friends went missing and I had a dream telling me that the clue to finding him will be arriving at the Camp shortly." Annabeth explained.

"I do not know of such. Who is this friend you seek? Is he one of the demigods as well?" Julia asked.

"Yes. His name is… Percy Jackson and he is the son of Poseidon." Annabeth's voice seemed to get caught when she spoke the name.

"I see. He is the son of Neptune." Then suddenly, Julia's eyes widened. "Neptune." She breathed.

"What about Neptune?" Annabeth asked with sudden urgency. "Do you have anything that might help us?"

Julia's body went rigid and pressure suddenly began to build up around her as her hands grabbed her head. "The memories… they are stolen. Percy… Neptune…" She started to speak softly under her breath.

"What is it? Please, I need to know. What does stolen memories have to do with Percy? What or who are you?" Annabeth stared at the younger girl with growing apprehension. The younger blond didn't seem to hear her as she continued to mumble under her breath.

Just as suddenly as it came, the pressure that built up around Julia disappeared and her eyes focused once again. "You must go and find a boy named Jason. He is the key. He doesn't know it yet but he is. He's a demigod but he's different." She told Annabeth with calmness but her eyes were still troubled as though she just relived a bad memory.

"Jason." Annabeth tested the name as though she was weighing each letter. "Where can I find him?"

Chiron beat Julia to the answer. "Jason. I think she's talking about the new boy that suddenly appeared out of nowhere in this school for delinquents. A satyr that I planted there to watch two other demigods told me something about a boy named Jason. They are currently on a bus to Grand Canyon. They should be arriving in couple hours."

"May I have the mission to retrieve Jason along with the other two demigods, Chiron?" Annabeth's stormy gray eyes light up at the clue she now had.

"Yes, you may. Why don't you take Botch, the son of Iris, with you? I need to ask Julia about some other things as well." Chiron told the excited girl with a sad smile.

"Thank you. I'll leave in five minutes." She thanked the centaur profusely and turned to Will Solace who was nearby. "Will, can I borrow your chariot? Your chariot's the fastest chariot this Camp has. I promise to return it in good shape." Annabeth practically begged, her eyes pleading.

"Yeah, sure. Just don't wreck it or something." Will smiled.

"Come on, Botch. We have to rescue three demigods." Annabeth said loudly in a sing song voice.

With that, the daughter of Athena and son of Iris disappeared through the crowds, the former practically dragging the latter by the wrist despite the fact that the latter had at least three times of the mass the former has.

* * *

Here is the first chapter of my version of Heroes of Olympus. I just finished the book yesterday and I personally think Rick Riordan has really improved in his writing. In the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, he had the writing style of an amateur but he's getting better. Of course, I'm not saying that I'm better then him or he sucks or anything. I just saying that compared to other books I have read (and trust me when I say I read like tons), he's books are one of the ones that I say, 'These books are written rather crudely.' Other then that, I pretty much okay with his books. He has some great ideas and imaginations and if he just had nice style, I would definitely put him into my top three authors.

If you want to read some really well written books, you should check out the books written by Orson Scott Card. He not only has great writing style but has fantastic ideas as well. I personally love his Ender's Game series and Ender's Shadow series. I read the entire series five times and read the first book of Shadow series seventeen times. My friend and I even made a blog and a website about the series. Currently, she and I are acting as missionaries for the series, spreading the word to anyone who's willing to listen to us. We already got twenty three people addicted to the series.

Enough with this babbling about the two series. I think Riordan's ideas have matured quite a bit and has more focus to it. I personally can't wait for the next book.

Please review. Reviewing lets me know how I can make my story better and invigorates me to write more (meaning upload faster).

- Jade


	2. Chapter 2

Yo. I'm back.

This chapter is just basically transition chapter to the main story that I planned out. Since I just need you guys to get familiar with the characters (I like to introduce each characters even in FanFictions), this will just talk about Jason, Piper, and Leo getting picked up by Annabeth and Butch to Camp Half-Blood. Since I'm too lazy to rewrite the entire chapter, I'm going to be using many of the exact wordings of the book. If you have a problem with that, well I'm sorry but I really don't have time to be writing out the entire chapter when I could just use the one already out.

However, this chapter will be the only one that is nearly exactly the same with the book. As I said, this chapter is just to get the story started so don't go flaming me. If you don't want to waste your time reading this chapter (since this chapter is nearly exactly the same as the book), I'm fine with that too. I promise you guys though that the next chapter will be mine and mine only.

Enjoy.

* * *

Jason didn't understand what was going on. One moment, he was surrounded by blissful whiteness and the next, he found himself holding hands with a girl that he had never seen before in his life in a bus to some place. Moreover, he couldn't remember who he is. All he remembered was that his name is Jason – he couldn't even recall his last name or where he is from.

_'Aren't amnesiacs supposed to forget their names too?'_ he thought sarcastically. _'I guess I'm one of the special amnesiacs. Just great. Maybe the next thing I learn about myself is that I'm somehow insane as well. How old am I anyways? I really don't want to be holding hands with a girl two years my senior.'_ Jason mused as he looked at the owner of the hand that he was holding.

Then the girl squeezed his hand and asked, "Jason, you okay?"

_'I'm pretty sure I never lived in a desert. Wait… Woah. The brunette next to me is pretty. With her faded jeans, hiking boots, and a fleece snowboarding jacket, even with her hair cut choppily and unevenly, she looks pretty hot. Her eyes are weird though. Why do they keep changing colors? Are all eyes supposed to do that?'_

"Down to Earth, Jason." The girl waved her hand in front of his face, trying to catch his attention.

"Uh… What did you say?"

"I asked if you're alright. You spaced out there for a while. I thought you were getting retarded on me." The girl spoke crudely in a very familiar fashion as though she had known him for a long time.

"Uh, I don't –" Jason started as he let go of her hand, only to be interrupted by a person standing in the front of the bus who looked very much like a teacher.

"All right, cupcakes, listen up!" His voice boomed through the bus.

The guy was obviously a coach all right. With his baseball cap pulled low over his hair, a megaphone clipped to his belt, and a whistle hanging from his neck, he might just as well have been wearing a banner screaming that he is. He had a wispy goatee and a scowl seemed to be permanently etched to his face. His immaculately clean white workout pants and bright orange polo shirt were straining against this buff body. Overall, he looked quite scary – if not for the fact that he was barely five feet tall. Jason couldn't quite tell if he was sitting or standing.

"Stand up, Coach Hedge!" a student sitting in the back shouted and the entire back section of the bus burst into laughter.

"I heard that!" The said coach barked gruffly and scanned the bus for the offender. Then, his beady dark eyes locked with Jason and Jason could have sworn that his scowl deepened though he wasn't sure how that was possible. Suddenly Jason realized something – the coach knew he didn't belong with the rest of the kids. He wasn't sure how he knew it but it was like intuition of sort. For a minute, Jason was sure the coach would call him out and demand to know what he was doing on the bus – to which Jason hadn't had a clue what to say.

Much to Jason's relief, the coach looked away and cleared his throat instead. "We'll be arriving in five minutes! Stay with your partner and don't lose your worksheet. And if any of you precious little cupcakes causes any trouble – any trouble of any sort – I will personally send you back to campus the hard way." Coach Hedge growled as he picked up a baseball bat and made a show of a home run hit.

Looking at the girl next to him, Jason marbled at the girl's beauty before remembering what he was about to ask. "Is he even allowed to talk to us that way?"

She shrugged as she answered him. "Doesn't he always? This is the Wilderness School. 'Where kids are the animals', to translate Coach Hedge's senseless babbling." The way she accented the phrase seemed as though it was a joke they'd shared before – something that Jason could swear that never happened.

"This is some kind of mistake," Jason told her. "I don't think I'm even supposed to be here." He frowned as he took in the surrounding – bus filled with kids who looked like juvenile delinquents and a coach bordering on the line of insanity.

The boy in front of him turned and laughed. "Yeah, right, Jason. We've all been framed! I didn't run away six times and Piper obviously didn't steal a BMW."

The girl next to Jason who he identified now as Piper blushed and protested hotly. "I didn't steal that car, Leo!"

"Oh, I forgot, Piper. What was your story? You 'talked' the dealer into lending it to you?" The boy who was called Leo raised his eyebrows at Jason as though he was saying, _Can you actually believe her? That's a total bull._

Leo looked like a Latino Santa's elf, with curly black hair, pointy ears, a cheerful, babyish face, and a mischievous smile that told you right away this guy should not be trusted around matches or sharp objects. His long, nimble fingers wouldn't stop moving – drumming on the seat, sweeping his hair behind his ears, fiddling with the buttons of his army fatigue jacket. Either the kid was naturally hyper or he was hopped up enough sugar and caffeine to give a heart attack to a water buffalo.

"Anyways," Leo continued. "I hope you've still got your worksheet, 'cause I used mine for spit wads days ago." He said cheerfully. "Why are you looking at me like that? Somebody draw on my face again? I'm gonna kill that guy, whomever it is."

"I don't know you," Jason said.

Leo gave him a crocodile grin and Jason wondered how his mouth could stretch so much. "Sure. I'm not your best friend. I'm his evil clone after all."

"Leo Valdez!" Coach Hedge yelled from the front. "Problem back there?"

Leo winked at Jason. "Watch this." He turned to the front. "Sorry, Coach! I was having trouble hearing you. Could you use your megaphone, please?"

Coach hedge grunted like he was pleased to have an excuse. He unclipped the megaphone from his belt and continued giving directions, but his voice came out like Darth Vader's. The kids cracked up. The coach tried again, but this time the megaphone blared, "The cow says moo!"

The kids howled and the coach slammed down the megaphone. "Valdez!" He shouted.

Piper stifled a laugh. "My god, Leo. How did you do that?"

Leo slipped a tiny Phillips head screwdriver from his sleeve. "I'm a special boy."

"Guys, seriously," Jason pleaded. "What am I doing here? Where are we going?" He was starting to get annoyed a bit. Seriously, waking up at unfamiliar place with no memory was not fun.

Piper knit her eyebrows. "Jason, are you joking?"

"No! I have no idea–"

"Aw, yeah, he's joking," Leo said. "He's trying to get me back for that shaving cream on the Jell-O thing, aren't you?"

Jason stared at him blankly.

"No, I think he's serious." Piper tried to take his hand again, but he pulled it away.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I don't– I can't–"

"That's it!" Coach Hedge yelled from the front. "The back row has just volunteered to clean up after lunch!"

The rest of the kids cheered.

"There's a shocker," Leo muttered.

But Piper kept her eyes on Jason, like she couldn't decide whether to be hurt or worried. "Did you hit your head or something? You really don't know who we are?"

Jason shrugged helplessly. "It's worse than that. I don't know who _I_ am."

XXX

The bus dropped them in front of a big red stucco complex like a museum, just sitting in the middle of nowhere. Maybe that's what it was: the National Museum of Nowhere, Jason thought. A cold wind blew across the desert. Jason hadn't paid much attention to what he was wearing, but it wasn't nearly war enough: jeans and sneakers, a purple T-shirt, and a thin black windbreaker.

"So, a crash course for the amnesiac," Leo said, in a helpful tone that made Jason think this was not going to be helpful. "We go to the 'Wilderness School'" – Leo made air quotes with his fingers. "Which means we're 'bad kids'. Your family, or the court, or whoever, decided you were too much trouble so they shipped you off to this lovely prison – sorry, 'boarding school' – in Armpit, Nevada, where you learn valuable nature skills like running ten miles a day through the cacti and weaving daisies into hats! And for a special treat we go on 'educational' field trips with Coach Hedge, who keeps order with a baseball bat. Is it all coming back to you now?"

"No." Jason glanced apprehensively at the other kids: maybe twenty guys, half that many girls. None of them looked like hardened criminals, but he wondered what they'd all done to get sentenced to a school for delinquents, and he wondered why he belonged with them.

Leo rolled his eyes. "You're really gonna play this out, huh? Okay, so the three of us started here together this semester. We're totally tight. You do everything I say and give me your dessert and do my chores –"

"Leo!" Piper snapped.

"Fine. Ignore that last part. But we _are_ friends. Well, Piper's a little more than your friend, the last few weeks–"

"Leo, stop it!" Piper's face turned red. Jason could feel his face burning too. He thought he'd remember if he'd been going out with a girl like Piper.

"He's got amnesia or something," Piper said. "We've got to tell somebody."

"Leo scoffed. "Who, Coach Hedge? He'd try to fix Jason by whacking him upside the head."

The coach was at the front of the group, barking orders and blowing his whistle to keep the kids in line; but every so often he'd glance back at Jason and scowl.

"Leo, Jason needs help," Piper insisted. "He's got a concussion or?"

"Yo, Piper." One of the other guys dropped back to join them as the group was heading into the museum. The new guy wedged himself between Jason and Piper and knocked Leo down. "Don't talk to these bottom feeders. You're my partner, remember?"

The new guy had dark hair cut Superman style, a deep tan, and teeth so white they should've come with a warning label: _DO NOT STARE DIRECTLY AT TEETH. PERMANENT BLINDNESS MAY OCCUR_. He wore a Dallas Cowboys jersey, Western jeans and boots, and he smiled like he was God's gift to juvenile delinquent girls everywhere. Jason hated him instantly.

"Go away, Dylan," Piper grumbled. "I didn't ask to work with you."

"Ah, that's no way to be. This is your lucky day!" Dylan hooked his arm through hers and dragged her through the museum entrance. Piper shot one last look over her shoulder like, _911._

Leo got up and brushed himself off. "I hate that guy." He offered Jason his arm, like they should go skipping inside together. "I'm Dylan. I'm so cool, I want to date myself, but I can't figure out how! You want to date me instead? You're so lucky!"

"Leo," Jason said, "you're weird."

"Yeah, you tell me that a lot." Leo grinned. "But if you don't remember me, that means I can reuse all my old jokes. Come on!"

Jason figured that if this was his best friend, his life must be pretty messed up; but he followed Leo into the museum.

XXX

They walked through the building, stopping here and there for Coach Hedge to lecture them with his megaphone, which alternately made him sound like a Sith lord or blared out random comments like "The pig says oink."

Leo kept pulling out nuts, bolts, and pipe cleaners from the pockets of his army jacket and putting them together, like he had to keep his hands busy at all times.

Jason was too distracted to pay much attention to the exhibits, but they told about the Grand Canyon, and the Hualapai Tribe that owned the museum.

Some girls kept looking over at Piper and Dylan and snickering. Jason figured these girls were the popular clique. They wore matching jeans and pink tops and enough makeup for a Halloween party.

One of them said, "Hey, Piper, does your tribe run this place? Do you get in free if you do a rain dance?"

The other girls laughed. Even Piper's so-called partner Dylan suppressed a smile. Piper's snowboarding jacket sleeves hid her hands, but Jason got the feeling she was clenching her fists.

"My dad's Cherokee," she said. "Not Hualapai. 'Course, you'd need a few brain cells to know the difference, Isabel."

Isabel widened her eyes in mock surprise, so that she looked like an owl with a makeup addiction. "Oh, sorry! Was your _mom_ in this tribe? Oh, that's right. You never knew your mom."

Piper charged her, but before a fight could break out, Coach Hedge barked, "Enough back there! Set a good example or I'll break out my baseball bat!"

The group shuffled on to the next exhibit, but the girls kept calling out little comments to Piper.

"Good to be back on the rez?" one asked in a sweet voice.

"Dad's probably too drunk to work," another said with fake sympathy. "That's why she turned klepto."

Piper ignored them, but Jason was ready to punch them himself. He might not remember Piper, or even who he was, but he knew he hated mean kids.

Leo caught his arm. "Be cool. Piper doesn't like us fighting her battles. Besides, if those girls found out the truth about her dad, they'd be all bowing down to her and screaming, 'We're not worthy!'"

"Why? What about her dad?"

Leo laughed in disbelief. "You're not kidding? You really don't remember that your girlfriend's dad?"

"Look, I wish I did, but I don't even remember _her_, much less her dad."

Leo whistled. "Whatever. We_ have_ to talk when we get back to the dorm."

They reached the far end of the exhibit hall, where some big glass doors led out to a terrace.

"All right, cupcakes," Coach Hedge announced. "You are about to see the Grand Canyon. Try not to break it. The skywalk can hold the weight of seventy jumbo jets, so you featherweights should be safe out there. If possible, try to avoid pushing each other over the edge, as that would cause me extra paperwork."

The coach opened the doors, and they all stepped outside. The Grand Canyon spread before them, live and in person. Extending over the edge was a horseshoe-shaped walkway made of glass, so you could see right through it.

"Man," Leo said. "That's pretty wicked."

Jason had to agree. Despite his amnesia and his feeling that he didn't belong there, he couldn't help being impressed.

The canyon was bigger and wider than you could appreciate from a picture. They were up so high that birds circled below their feet. Five hundred feet down, a river snaked along the canyon floor. Banks of storm clouds had moved overhead while they'd been inside, casting shadows like angry faces across the cliffs. As far as Jason could see in any direction, red and gray ravines cut through the desert like some crazy god had taken a knife to it.

Jason got a piercing pain behind his eyes. _Crazy gods_ . . . Where had he come up with that idea? He felt like he'd gotten close to something important?something he should know about. He also got the unmistakable feeling he was in danger.

"You all right?" Leo asked. "You're not going to throw up over the side, are you? ?Cause I should've brought my camera."

Jason grabbed the railing. He was shivering and sweaty, but it had nothing to do with heights. He blinked, and the pain behind his eyes subsided.

"I'm fine," he managed. "Just a headache."

Thunder rumbled overhead. A cold wind almost knocked him sideways.

"This can't be safe." Leo squinted at the clouds. "Storm's right over us, but it's clear all the way around. Weird, huh?"

Jason looked up and saw Leo was right. A dark circle of clouds had parked itself over the skywalk, but the rest of the sky in every direction was perfectly clear. Jason had a bad feeling about that.

"All right, cupcakes!" Coach Hedge yelled. He frowned at the storm like it bothered him too. "We may have to cut this short, so get to work! Remember, complete sentences!"

The storm rumbled, and Jason's head began to hurt again. Not knowing why he did it, he reached into his jeans pocket and brought out a coin ?a circle of gold the size of a half-dollar, but thicker and more uneven. Stamped on one side was a picture of a battle-axe. On the other was some guy's face wreathed in laurels. The inscription said something like IVLIVS.

"Dang, is that gold?" Leo asked. "You been holding out on me!"

Jason put the coin away, wondering how he'd come to have it, and why he had the feeling he was going to need it soon.

"It's nothing," he said. "Just a coin."

Leo shrugged. Maybe his mind had to keep moving as much as his hands. "Come on," he said. "Dare you to spit over the edge."

XXX

They didn't try very hard on the worksheet. For one thing, Jason was too distracted by the storm and his own mixed-up feelings. For another thing, he didn't have any idea how to "name three sedimentary strata you observe" or "describe two examples of erosion."

Leo was no help. He was too busy building a helicopter out of pipe cleaners.

"Check it out." He launched the copter. Jason figured it would plummet, but the pipe-cleaner blades actually spun. The little copter made it halfway across the canyon before it lost momentum and spiraled into the void.

"How'd you do that?" Jason asked.

Leo shrugged. "Would've been cooler if I had some rubber bands."

"Seriously," Jason said, "are we friends?"

"Last I checked."

"You sure? What was the first day we met? What did we talk about?"

"It was . . ." Leo frowned. "I don't recall exactly. I'm ADHD, man. You can't expect me to remember details."

"But I don't remember you_ at all. _I don't remember anyone here. What if?"

"You're right and everyone else is wrong?" Leo asked. "You think you just appeared here this morning, and we've all got fake memories of you?"

A little voice in Jason's head said, _That's exactly what I think._

But it sounded crazy. Everybody here took him for granted. Everyone acted like he was a normal part of the class?except for Coach Hedge.

"Take the worksheet." Jason handed Leo the paper. "I'll be right back."

Before Leo could protest, Jason headed across the skywalk.

Their school group had the place to themselves. Maybe it was too early in the day for tourists, or maybe the weird weather had scared them off. The Wilderness School kids had spread out in pairs across the skywalk. Most were joking around or talking. Some of the guys were dropping pennies over the side. About fifty feet away, Piper was trying to fill out her worksheet, but her stupid partner Dylan was hitting on her, putting his hand on her shoulder and giving her that blinding white smile. She kept pushing him away, and when she saw Jason she gave him a look like, _Throttle this guy for me._

Jason motioned for her to hang on. He walked up to Coach Hedge, who was leaning on his baseball bat, studying the storm clouds.

"Did you do this?" the coach asked him.

Jason took a step back. "Do what?" It sounded like the coach had just asked if he'd made the thunderstorm.

Coach Hedge glared at him, his beady little eyes glinting under the brim of his cap. "Don't play games with me, kid. What are you doing here and why are you messing up my job?"

"You mean . . . you _don't_ know me?" Jason said. "I'm not one of your students?"

Hedge snorted. "Never seen you before today."

Jason was so relieved he almost wanted to cry. At least he wasn't going insane. He_was _in the wrong place. "Look, sir, I don't know how I got here. I just woke up on the school bus. All I know is I'm not supposed to be here."

"Got that right." Hedge's gruff voice dropped to a murmur, like he was sharing a secret. "You got a powerful way with the Mist, kid, if you can make all these people think they know you; but you can't fool me. I've been smelling monster for days now. I knew we had an infiltrator, but you don't smell like a monster. You smell like a half-blood. So?who are you, and where'd you come from?"

Most of what the coach said didn't make sense, but Jason decided to answer honestly. "I don't know who I am. I don't have any memories. You've got to help me."

Coach Hedge studied his face like was trying to read Jason's thoughts.

"Great," Hedge muttered. "You're being truthful."

"Of course I am! And what was all that about monsters and half-bloods? Are those code words or something?"

Hedge narrowed his eyes. Part of Jason wondered if the guy was just nuts. But the other part knew better.

"Look, kid," Hedge said, "I don't know who you are. I just know _what_ you are, and it means trouble. Now I got to protect three of you rather than two. Are you the special package? Is that it?"

"What are you talking about?"

Hedge looked at the storm. The clouds were getting thicker and darker, hovering right over the skywalk.

"This morning," Hedge said, "I got a message from camp. They said an extraction team is on the way. They're coming to pick up a special package, but they wouldn't give me details. I thought to myself, Fine. The two I'm watching are pretty powerful, older than most. I know they're being stalked. I can smell a monster in the group. I figure that's why the camp is suddenly frantic to pick them up. But then _you_ pop up out of nowhere. So, are you the special package?"

The pain behind Jason's eyes got worse than ever. _Half-bloods. Camp. Monsters._He still didn't know what Hedge was talking about, but the words gave him a massive brain freeze?like his mind was trying to access information that should've been there but wasn't.

He stumbled, and Coach Hedge caught him. For a short guy, the coach had hands like steel. "Whoa, there, cupcake. You say you got no memories, huh? Fine. I'll just have to watch you, too, until the team gets here. We'll let the director figure things out."

"What director?" Jason said. "What camp?"

"Just sit tight. Reinforcements should be here soon. Hopefully nothing happens before?"

Lightning crackled overhead. The wind picked up with a vengeance. Worksheets flew into the Grand Canyon, and the entire bridge shuddered. Kids screamed, stumbling and grabbing the rails.

"I had to say something," Hedge grumbled. He bellowed into his megaphone: "Everyone inside! The cow says moo! Off the skywalk!"

"I thought you said this thing was stable!" Jason shouted over the wind.

"Under normal circumstances," Hedge agreed, "which these aren't. Come on!"

XXX

The storm churned into a miniature hurricane. Funnel clouds snaked toward the skywalk like the tendrils of a monster jellyfish.

Kids screamed and ran for the building. The wind snatched away their notebooks, jackets, hats, and backpacks. Jason skidded across the slick floor.

Leo lost his balance and almost toppled over the railing, but Jason grabbed his jacket and pulled him back.

"Thanks, man!" Leo yelled.

"Go, go, go!" said Coach Hedge.

Piper and Dylan were holding the doors open, herding the other kids inside. Piper's snowboarding jacket was flapping wildly, her dark hair all in her face. Jason thought she must've been freezing, but she looked calm and confident - telling the others it would be okay, encouraging them to keep moving.

Jason, Leo, and Coach Hedge ran toward them, but it was like running through quicksand. The wind seemed to fight them, pushing them back.

Dylan and Piper pushed one more kid inside, then lost their grip on the doors. They slammed shut, closing off the skywalk.

Piper tugged at the handles. The kids inside pounded on the glass, but the doors seemed to be stuck.

"Dylan, help!" Piper shouted.

Dylan just stood there with an idiotic grin, his Cowboys jersey rippling in the wind, like he was suddenly enjoying the storm.

"Sorry, Piper," he said. "I'm done helping."

He flicked his wrist and Piper flew backward, slamming into the doors and sliding to the skywalk deck.

"Piper!" Jason tried to charge forward, but the wind was against him, and Coach Hedge pushed him back.

"Coach," Jason said, "let me go!"

"Jason, Leo, stay behind me," the coach ordered. "This is my fight. I should've known that was our monster."

"What?" Leo demanded. A rogue worksheet slapped him in the face, but he swatted it away. "What monster?"

The coach's cap blew off, and sticking up above his curly hair were two bumps - like the knots cartoon characters get when they're bonked on the head. Coach Hedge lifted his baseball bat - but it wasn't a regular bat anymore. Somehow it had changed into a crudely shaped tree-branch club, with twigs and leaves still attached.

Dylan gave him that psycho happy smile. "Oh, come on, _Coach. _Let the boy attack me! After all, you're getting too old for this. Isn't that why they _retired_ you to this stupid school? I've been on your team the entire season, and you didn't even know. You're losing your nose, grandpa."

The coach made an angry sound like an animal bleating. "That's it, cupcake. You're going down."

"You think you can protect three half-bloods at once, old man?" Dylan laughed. "Good luck."

Dylan pointed at Leo, and a funnel cloud materialized around him. Leo flew off the skywalk like he'd been tossed. Somehow he managed to twist in midair, and slammed sideways into the canyon wall. He skidded, clawing furiously for any handhold. Finally he grabbed a thin ledge about fifty feet below the skywalk and hung there by his fingertips.

"Help!" he yelled up at them. "Rope, please? Bungee cord? Something?"

Coach Hedge cursed and tossed Jason his club. "I don't know who you are, kid, but I hope you're good. Keep that _thing_ busy" - he stabbed a thumb at Dylan - "while I get Leo."

"Get him how?" Jason demanded. "You going to fly?"

"Not fly. Climb." Hedge kicked off his shoes, and Jason almost had a coronary. The coach didn't have any feet. He had hooves - goat's hooves. Which meant those things on his head, Jason realized, weren't bumps. They were horns.

"You're a faun," Jason said.

_"Satyr!"_ Hedge snapped. "Fauns are Roman. But we'll talk about that later."

Hedge leaped over the railing. He sailed toward the canyon wall and hit hooves first. He bounded down the cliff with impossible agility, finding footholds no bigger than postage stamps, dodging whirlwinds that tried to attack him as he picked his way toward Leo.

"Isn't that cute!" Dylan turned toward Jason. "Now it's your turn, boy."

Jason threw the club. It seemed useless with the winds so strong, but the club flew right at Dylan, even curving when he tried to dodge, and smacked him on the head so hard he fell to his knees.

Piper wasn't as dazed as she appeared. Her fingers closed around the club when it rolled next to her, but before she could use it, Dylan rose. Blood - _golden_ blood - trickled from his forehead.

"Nice try, boy." He glared at Jason. "But you'll have to do better."

The skywalk shuddered. Hairline fractures appeared in the glass. Inside the museum, kids stopped banging on the doors. They backed away, watching in terror.

Dylan's body dissolved into smoke, as if his molecules were coming unglued. He had the same face, the same brilliant white smile, but his whole form was suddenly composed of swirling black vapor, his eyes like electrical sparks in a living storm cloud. He sprouted black smoky wings and rose above the skywalk. If angels could be evil, Jason decided, they would look exactly like this.

"You're a _ventus_," Jason said, though he had no idea how he knew that word. "A storm spirit."

Dylan's laugh sounded like a tornado tearing off a roof. "I'm glad I waited, demigod. Leo and Piper I've known about for weeks. Could've killed them at any time. But my mistress said a third was coming?someone special. She'll reward me greatly for your death!"

Two more funnel clouds touched down on either side of Dylan and turned into _venti - _ghostly young men with smoky wings and eyes that flickered with lightning.

Piper stayed down, pretending to be dazed, her hand still gripping the club. Her face was pale, but she gave Jason a determined look, and he understood the message: _Keep their attention. I'll brain them from behind._

Cute, smart, _and_ violent. Jason wished he remembered having her as a girlfriend.

He clenched his fists and got ready to charge, but he never got a chance.

Dylan raised his hand, arcs of electricity running between his fingers, and blasted Jason in the chest.

_Bang!_ Jason found himself flat on his back. His mouth tasted like burning aluminum foil. He lifted his head and saw that his clothes were smoking. The lightning bolt had gone straight though his body and blasted off his left shoe. His toes were black with soot.

The storm spirits were laughing. The winds raged. Piper was screaming defiantly, but it all sounded tinny and far away.

Out of the corner of his eye, Jason saw Coach Hedge climbing the cliff with Leo on his back. Piper was on her feet, desperately swinging the club to fend off the two extra storm spirits, but they were just toying with her. The club went right through their bodies like they weren't there. And Dylan, a dark winged tornado with eyes, loomed over Jason.

"Stop," Jason croaked. He rose unsteadily to his feet, and he wasn't sure who was more surprised: him, or the storm spirits.

"How are you alive?" Dylan's form flickered. "That was enough lightning to kill twenty men!"

"My turn," Jason said.

He reached in his pocket and pulled out the gold coin. He let his instincts take over, flipping the coin in the air like he'd done it a thousand times. He caught it in his palm, and suddenly he was holding a sword?a wickedly sharp double-edged weapon. The ridged grip fit his fingers perfectly, and the whole thing was gold - hilt, handle, and blade.

Dylan snarled and backed up. He looked at his two comrades and yelled, "Well? Kill him!"

The other storm spirits didn't look happy with that order, but they flew at Jason, their fingers crackling with electricity.

Jason swung at the first spirit. His blade passed through it, and the creature's smoky form disintegrated. The second spirit let loose a bolt of lightning, but Jason's blade absorbed the charge. Jason stepped in?one quick thrust, and the second storm spirit dissolved into gold powder.

Dylan wailed in outrage. He looked down as if expecting his comrades to

reform, but their gold dust remains dispersed in the wind. "Impossible! Who _areb_you, half-blood?"

Piper was so stunned she dropped her club. "Jason, how . . .?"

Then Coach Hedge leaped back onto the skywalk and dumped Leo like a sack of flour.

"Spirits, fear me!" Hedge bellowed, flexing his short arms. Then he looked around and realized there was only Dylan.

"Curse it, boy!" he snapped at Jason. "Didn't you leave some for me? I like a challenge!"

Leo got to his feet, breathing hard. He looked completely humiliated, his hands bleeding from clawing at the rocks. "Yo, Coach Supergoat, whatever you are? I just fell down the freaking Grand Canyon! Stop asking for challenges!"

Dylan hissed at them, but Jason could see fear in his eyes. "You have no idea how many enemies you've awakened, half-bloods. My mistress will destroy _all _demigods. This war you _cannot _win."

Above them, the storm exploded into a full-force gale. Cracks expanded in the skywalk. Sheets of rain poured down, and Jason had to crouch to keep his balance.

A hole opened in the clouds?a swirling vortex of black and silver.

"The mistress calls me back!" Dylan shouted with glee. "And you, demigod, will come with me!"

He lunged at Jason, but Piper tackled the monster from behind. Even though he was made of smoke, Piper somehow managed to connect. Both of them went sprawling. Leo, Jason, and the coach surged forward to help, but the spirit screamed with rage. He let loose a torrent that knocked them all backward. Jason and Coach Hedge landed on their butts. Jason's sword skidded across the glass. Leo hit the back of his head and curled on his side, dazed and groaning. Piper got the worst of it. She was thrown off Dylan's back and hit the railing, tumbling over the side until she was hanging by one hand over the abyss.

Jason started toward her, but Dylan screamed, "I'll settle for this one!"

He grabbed Leo's arm and began to rise, towing a half-conscious Leo below him. The storm spun faster, pulling them upward like a vacuum cleaner.

"Help!" Piper yelled. "Somebody!"

Then she slipped, screaming as she fell.

"Jason, go!" Hedge yelled. "Save her!"

The coach launched himself at the spirit with some serious goat fu?lashing out with his hooves, knocking Leo free from the spirit's grasp. Leo dropped safely to the floor, but Dylan grappled the coach's arms instead. Hedge tried to head-butt him, then kicked him and called him a cupcake. They rose into the air, gaining speed.

Coach Hedge shouted down once more, "Save her! I got this!" Then the satyr and the storm spirit spiraled into the clouds and disappeared.

_Save her? _Jason thought._ She's gone!_

But again his instincts won. He ran to the railing, thinking, _I'm a lunatic, _and jumped over the side.

XXX

Jason wasn't scared of heights. He was scared of being smashed against the canyon floor five hundred feet below. He figured he hadn't accomplished anything except for dying along with Piper, but he tucked in his arms and plummeted headfirst. The sides of the canyon raced past like a film on fast-forward. His face felt like it was peeling off.

In a heartbeat, he caught up with Piper, who was flailing wildly. He tackled her waist and closed his eyes, waiting for death. Piper screamed. The wind whistled in Jason's ears. He wondered what dying would feel like. He was thinking, probably not so good. He wished somehow they could never hit bottom.

Suddenly the wind died. Piper's scream turned into a strangled gasp. Jason thought they must be dead, but he hadn't felt any impact.

"J-J-Jason," Piper managed.

He opened his eyes. They weren't falling. They were floating in midair, a hundred feet above the river.

He hugged Piper tight, and she repositioned herself so she was hugging him too. They were nose to nose. Her heart beat so hard, Jason could feel it through her clothes.

Her breath smelled like cinnamon. She said, "How did you?"

"I didn't," he said. "I think I would know if I could fly. . . ."

But then he thought: _I don't even know who I am._

He imagined going up. Piper yelped as they shot a few feet higher. They weren't exactly floating, Jason decided. He could feel pressure under his feet like they were balancing at the top of a geyser.

"The air is supporting us," he said.

"Well, tell it to support us more! Get us out of here!"

Jason looked down. The easiest thing would be to sink gently to the canyon floor. Then he looked up. The rain had stopped. The storm clouds didn't seem as bad, but they were still rumbling and flashing. There was no guarantee the spirits were gone for good. He had no idea what had happened to Coach Hedge. And he'd left Leo up there, barely conscious.

"We have to help them," Piper said, as if reading his thoughts. "Can you?"

"Let's see." Jason thought _up, _and instantly they shot skyward.

The fact he was riding the winds might've been cool under different circumstances, but he was too much in shock. As soon as they landed on the skywalk, they ran to Leo.

Piper turned Leo over, and he groaned. His army coat was soaked from the rain. His curly hair glittered gold from rolling around in monster dust. But at least he wasn't dead.

"Stupid . . . ugly . . . goat," he muttered.

"Where did he go?" Piper asked.

Leo pointed straight up. "Never came down. Please tell me he didn't actually save my life."

"Twice," Jason said.

Leo groaned even louder. "What happened? The tornado guy, the gold sword . . . I hit my head. That's it, right? I'm hallucinating?"

Jason had forgotten about the sword. He walked over to where it was lying and picked it up. The blade was well balanced. On a hunch he flipped it. Midspin, the sword shrank back into a coin and landed in his palm.

"Yep," Leo said. "Definitely hallucinating."

Piper shivered in her rain-soaked clothes. "Jason, those things?"

_"Venti," _he said. "Storm spirits."

"Okay. You acted like . . . like you'd seen them before. Who_ are_ you?"

He shook his head. "That's what I've been trying to tell you. I don't know."

The storm dissipated. The other kids from the Wilderness School were staring out the glass doors in horror. Security guards were working on the locks now, but they didn't seem to be having any luck.

"Coach Hedge said he had to protect three people," Jason remembered. "I think he meant us."

"And that thing Dylan turned into . . ." Piper shuddered. "God, I can't believe it was _hitting _on me. He called us . . . what, _demigods_?"

Leo lay on his back, staring at the sky. He didn't seem anxious to get up. "Don't know what _demi_ means," he said. "But I'm not feeling too godly. You guys feeling godly?"

There was a brittle sound like dry twigs snapping, and the cracks in the skywalk began to widen.

"We need to get off this thing," Jason said. "Maybe if we?"

"Ohhh-kay," Leo interrupted. "Look up there and tell me if those are flying horses."

At first Jason thought Leo _had_ hit his head too hard. Then he saw a dark shape descending from the east - too slow for a plane, too large for a bird. As it got closer he could see a pair of winged animals - gray, four-legged, exactly like horses - except each one had a twenty-foot wingspan. And they were pulling a brightly painted box with two wheels: a chariot.

"Reinforcements," he said. "Hedge told me an extraction squad was coming for us."

"Extraction squad?" Leo struggled to his feet. "That sounds painful."

"And where are they extracting us _to_?_"_ Piper asked.

Jason watched as the chariot landed on the far end of the skywalk. The flying horses folded their wings and cantered nervously across the glass, as if they sensed it was near breaking. Two teenagers stood in the chariot - a tall blond girl maybe a little older than Jason, and a bulky dude with a shaved head and a face like a pile of bricks. They both wore jeans and orange T-shirts, with shields tossed over their backs. The girl leaped off before the chariot had even finished moving. She pulled a knife and ran toward Jason's group while the bulky dude was reining in the horses.

"Where is he?" the girl demanded. Her gray eyes were fierce and a little startling.

"Where's who?" Jason asked.

She frowned like his answer was unacceptable. Then she turned to Leo and Piper. "What about Gleeson? Where is your protector, Gleeson Hedge?"

The coach's first name was Gleeson? Jason might've laughed if the morning hadn't been quite so weird and scary. Gleeson Hedge: football coach, goat man, protector of demigods. Sure. Why not?

Leo cleared his throat. "He got taken by some . . . tornado things."

_"Venti," _Jason said. "Storm spirits."

The blond girl arched an eyebrow. "You mean _anemoi thuellai - _That's the Greek term. Who are you, and what happened?"

Jason did his best to explain, though it was hard to meet those intense gray eyes. About halfway through the story, the other guy from the chariot came over. He stood there glaring at them, his arms crossed. He had a tattoo of a rainbow on his biceps, which seemed a little unusual.

When Jason had finished his story, the blond girl didn't look satisfied. "No, no, no! She _told_ me he would be here. She told me if I came here, I'd find the answer."

"Annabeth," the bald guy grunted. "It is him."

Jason hadn't a clue what they were talking about but he was pretty sure it had something to do with him.

"The guy named Jason," said the bald dude. "He's the answer."

"No, Butch," the girl insisted. "He can't be. I was tricked." She glared at the sky as though it had done something wrong. "What do you want from me?" she screamed. "What have you done with him?"  
The skywalk shuddered, and the horses whinnied urgently.

"Annabeth," said the bald dude, Butch, "we gotta leave. Let's get these three to camp and figure it out there. Those storm spirits might come back."

She fumed for a moment. "Fine." She fixed Jason with a resentful look. "We'll settle this later."

She turned on her heel and marched toward the chariot.

Piper shook her head. "What's _her _problem? What's going on?"

"Seriously," Leo agreed.

"We have to get you out of here," Butch said. "I'll explain on the way."

"I'm not going anywhere with _her_." Jason gestured toward the blonde. "She looks like she wants to kill me."

Butch hesitated. "Annabeth's okay. You gotta cut her some slack. She was told to come here, to find a guy named Jason. That was supposed to be the answer to her problem."

"What problem?" Piper asked.

"She's been looking for one of our campers, who's been missing three days," Butch said. "She's going out of her mind with worry. She hoped he'd be here."

"Who?" Jason asked.

"Her boyfriend," Butch said. "A guy named Percy Jackson."

* * *

There it is. Yes, that was basically exact word-to-word of the original book with just couple words edited. Just don't flame me about it. As I said before, this chapter is just to get me started on the real plot. Anyways, review if you feel like it but you don't have to. I'll understand. After all, who wants to review on the basically copied version of the book anyways?

I'll have a better and original chapter next time. Until then.

- Jade


End file.
